Digital Book World 2013: Change and Cooperation

NYU M.S. in Publishing students David Stuzin, Nicole Estrin, Michelle Cashman, Pam Majumdar, and Lorna Field volunteer at Digital Book World.

During a Digital Book World 2013 panel discussion so crowded that some attendees sat on the floor, Matt MacInnis, Founder and CEO of the interactive book company Inkling, made a particularly perceptive comment: “It’s a miracle that the book was a thing the whole world agreed on.” That is, up until recently, it is fair to say that “the book” as we know it has retained the same static, linear structure across various nations and fields of study since the invention of the printing press 500 years ago. Going forward, MacInnis continued, “It’s not gonna be one monolithic thing serving the med. school book and serving the novel.”

Tips and Thrills: Just a Day in Publishing

Macmillan CEO John Sargent with students

“You guys are the future of publishing.” The NYU-SCPS Summer Publishing Institute students heard those words recently from John Sargent, CEO of Macmillan Publishing. As classmates headed off to book industry visits at Penguin Group USA, Simon & Schuster, Open Road Integrated Media, and Workman Publishing, my colleagues and I had the opportunity to visit Macmillan’s headquarters in the historic Flatiron Building on Fifth Avenue.

In his office with a balcony overlooking Madison Square Park, Sargent began his talk to the students as if composing a choose-your-own-adventure novel. He offered to address current issues in publishing, describe the history of the company or volunteer career advice. “You choose!” he said. The CEO didn’t seem at all surprised when the students wanted to hear his tips on a career in publishing.

How I Got Published:A Summer Publishing Institute Success Story

Kia DuPree: all smiles over her literary good fortune

A good friend asked me how much my dream was worth. I was totally confused by his question. “Is your dream worth more than two thousand dollars?” he asked. “Yeah,” I said.  “Then take two thousand dollars and publish your own book. Trust me. You’ll more than double your money, if it’s any good.”

He was right. That advice plus my experience as a student in NYU’s Summer Publishing Institute in 2006 made all the difference in the world.  I had been calling myself an “aspiring novelist” for years. Until I actually published a book, I didn’t think I could ever call myself a novelist. I took money  from my savings account and published Robbing Peter, a novel about three fatherless families. I sold it at work, to friends and family, online, at the grocery store, at hair salons and at night clubs. Everywhere. It was a lot of work. To my surprise, it went on to win a Fiction Honor Book Award from the Black Caucus of The American Library Association. It was the first self-published novel to do so.